Lesson Well Learned
by SpiritFairy89
Summary: Hello! This is my first fanfic EVER! Please be kind! It's a Seiftis, if you want to know, but there will also be more couplings in the story in the future!
1. Discovery

Lesson Well Learned  
  
"Alright class, be sure to rest up tonight so that you're ready for the field exam tomorrow." Quistis Trepe reminded her students.  
  
It had been a few months after Ultimecia's defeat. Life for the 'Heroes of the World' had returned to normal. Quistis had received her instructor's license back after she proved all too well that she had what it took to be an instructor. She had been ecstatic for many days after. But when tests and the field exam came up that time of year and began stressing her out, Quistis wasn't sure she WANTED to be an instructor anymore.  
  
As she started to organize the tests her students had just taken for them to be graded, the intercom went on.  
  
"Will Quistis Trepe please report to the Headmaster's office. Once again, will Quistis Trepe please report to the Headmaster's office. That is all."  
  
Quistis sighed as she made her way up to the third level of Balamb Garden using the elevator lift. Giving a small smile to Xu outside of the door, she went in. She saluted when Cid turned around in his chair to face her. He smiled at her professionalism.  
  
"Quistis, you know you don't need to be so formal around me." Cid mock admonished her. She just smiled and sat down in one of the chairs that were in front of his desk.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir, but-" Quistis started to say.  
  
" You are like a daughter to me, Quistis. Call me Cid." Cid grinned.  
  
Quistis smiled faintly. Memories of the orphanage back then had resurfaced when she began to stop using Guardian Forces.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir- I mean, Cid, but is there a specific reason why I was called up here?" She questioned cautiously.  
  
"Oh yes, of course." He replied. "I think you may have heard the rumors around school that Seifer Almasy is returning to Balamb Garden, am I correct?"  
  
"Yes sir," Quistis answered. "But they ARE just rumors right? I mean, Seifer really isn't returning, is he?"  
  
"That is what I called you here today, Quistis." Cid said, turning to face the gigantic window that served as a wall for the back of his office. "As it turns out, Seifer IS going to return to Balamb Garden. He came to see me the other day when Edea was here. He had asked me to give him another chance to become a Seed and had apologized."  
  
"Edea helped convince me by reminding me how SHE was possessed by Ultimecia, like Seifer was. 'In fact,' she had said. 'If it wasn't for me, Seifer would never have gotten into this mess.'" He informed her with a small chuckle at the memory of his wife that day.  
  
Quistis' eyes widened. Not only was Seifer Almasy returning to Balamb Garden, but he had APOLOGIZED, something she knew the old Seifer would've NEVER done.  
  
"Umm. Cid? Not to be a prude or anything, but what exactly does this have to do with me?" She asked tentatively. Cid shot her another smile, but this one faltered a little bit as he began to speak once more.  
  
"Oh right. The reason I called you here was to inform you that since Seifer has been enrolled at Balamb Garden again to become a Seed and with the field exam and written exam so close by now, I need a very skilled and professional instructor to teach him during their spare time."  
  
"And. Since you showed me how skilled you are in the fight with Ultimecia, I decided to choose you to instruct Seifer during your spare time."  
  
Quistis' mouth dropped wide open. 'Oh great.' She thought. 'When I thought my life couldn't become anymore stressful, it DOES!' Realizing her mouth was still open , she quickly closed her mouth and started to talk, but Cid beat her to it.  
  
"I know this may not sound very appealing to you Quistis," he said hastily. "But your skills and professionalism wasn't the only reason I chose you to teach Seifer."  
  
"Then why, Headmaster Cid?" Quistis pressed on. "What else convinced you to pick me when there are also other very skilled instructors here at Garden?"  
  
"The other reason I chose you, Quistis, was because someone thought you were perfect for this responsibility. That someone was-" Cid was cut short.  
  
"Was that someone Selphie?" Quistis interrupted. "I swear to Hyne, that girl thinks too highly of me sometimes." She released a small laugh at the end, thinking about the energetic and optimistic young girl.  
  
"No, that person wasn't Selphie." Cid continued. "That person happens to be our very own-" He was cut short once more by the sound of the office door opening and a masculine voice speaking up.  
  
"Seifer Almasy" 


	2. Challenge

Thanks to Quistis88, setobsessed, Lady in Blue, and Renegade Seraph for their WONDERFUL reviews! I have never received any before! Thank you!  
  
Oh yeah! Thanks to Renegade Seraph, I'll remember to do the disclaimer for each chapter now! Thank you one again!  
  
Disclaimer - I DO NOT, repeat; DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY! Tee hee! I wish I did though!  
  
P.S. I don't come up with very good chapter titles and when I do, they sometimes never have to do anything with the chapter! So if you feel like this is the case with THIS chapter, you could ignore it all together. Buh Bye!  
  
"No, that person wasn't Selphie." Cid continued. "That person happens to be our very own-" He was cut short once more by the sound of the office door opening and a masculine voice speaking up.  
  
"Seifer Almasy"  
  
Quistis quickly stood up and spun around, causing the chair she was sitting in to be knocked down. She looked over to the doorway and found her ocean blue eyes connect with the forest green ones of the infamous Seifer Almasy.  
  
He looked practically the same as he did before he had become Ultimecia's knight. He still wore his trademark trench coat with the red crosses on the side. His silver blond hair was a little longer than the last time she saw him and he seemed tired, but his eyes still held the same mischievous and challenging look in them.  
  
"Well, well, if it isn't my dear Instructor." Seifer drawled out. "And how have you been during these past few months?"  
  
"Better than you, I presume." Quistis retorted, noting the disheveled state he was in. "What happened to you, Almasy? Life after being the Sorceress' Knight worn you out?"  
  
He narrowed his eyes and was about to challenge her question with a retort of his own, but Cid interrupted before he could get a single word out.  
  
"I was just telling Quistis here how she'll be tutoring you during her spare time. I hoped you remember at least some of the information that will be on the written test, considering how long you've been a student here."  
  
Seifer smirked. "Of course I do, Headmaster. My perfect little brain has memorized every single thing that has been discussed and lectured on in class during the past few years."  
  
Quistis couldn't help but snort at that. "Well, you got the 'little' part of your speech right, Almasy."  
  
He scowled at her. "Everyone can't ALWAYS be perfect, Trepe." He suddenly grinned evilly. "You should've learned that after Puberty-Boy rejected you for Miss Heartilly."  
  
She flushed with anger at his comment and opened her mouth to give him the verbal beating of a lifetime, but Cid placed his hand on her shoulder before she could say anything. He also shot her a look to calm down. Quistis took a deep breath to calm her nerves, righted her fallen chair, and sat down again. He signaled for Seifer to also take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Seifer sat down with a plop and rested his chin on the palm of his hand while his elbow rested against his leg, looking bored.  
  
Cid cleared his throat and began to speak once more. "If you children are done arguing now," he chuckled at this. "I would like to inform both of you that Seifer's lessons will begin starting three days from now. Here is the complete outline of what you will be teaching him until the written exam." He handed Quistis a vanilla folder. "That is all. Seifer, you may now move into your assigned dorm room. Quistis, you may also go now."  
  
Sensing that this was the end of their little 'meeting', Seifer and Quistis both stood up and saluted Cid before leaving his office. They made their way to the elevator lift and had to wait before the lift came up again. During this period of time, they were both unusually silent towards each other. Quistis was the one to break it.  
  
"I was meaning to ask," she started hesitantly. "Why did you nominate ME for the position to tutor you?"  
  
Seifer barely glanced at her when he answered. "I don't know, maybe because you were my instructor before all of this mess." He suddenly smirked at her. "And maybe because it's just so fun to get on your last nerves."  
  
Quistis shot him a wry smile. "You have NEVER gotten on my nerves. But I remember being able to get on yours on a daily basis."  
  
By this time, the elevator lift had arrived on their level. Seifer scoffed indignantly as he followed Quistis onto it. "I beg to differ! I HAVE been able to get on your nerves as many times as you have gotten on MINE."  
  
Quistis smiled. "Oh really, like when exactly?"  
  
"Like that time when.when. Well, I know for CERTAIN that I have been able to get on your nerves SOMETIME in the past." Replied Seifer. "Because I have always been able to get on EVERYONE'S nerves, no matter who they are!"  
  
Quistis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you've always been able to, that is, until now."  
  
"What's that suppose to mean?"  
  
"I think all the information you learned in class clogged your brain up Seifer. It means you have never, EVER have gotten on my nerves." Quistis smugly said.  
  
"Oh, we'll see about that." Seifer said, narrowing his eyes at her once more.  
  
"Yes, we WILL see." She replied with a sardonic grin.  
  
As the elevator lift returned to the first floor to its original position, the two people shot each other almost identical challenging grins be fore turning their backs on each other and heading in their own separate directions. 


	3. Aggravation

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are great! The reviews you wrote were very helpful by boosting my own self esteem! :D Enjoy this next chapter!  
  
I do not own ANY characters that you will read about in this story. They ALL belong to SquareSoft. Darn it.*snaps fingers* .. Anyways, ENJOY!  
  
"Yes, we WILL see." She replied with a sardonic grin.  
  
As the elevator lift returned to the first floor to its original position, the two people shot each other almost identical challenging grins before turning their backs on each other and heading in their own separate directions.  
  
It was the day before Quistis was to start tutoring Seifer. She was sitting on a bench in the Secret Area of the training center, quietly reading a novel she had randomly picked off the shelf in the library.  
  
Quistis had planned on STAYING in the library, but Zell had been there and had been talking it up with his girlfriend, the library girl, whose name had slipped her mind at the moment. So, she checked out the book she had in her hands, slipped it into her pocket, and then left.  
  
She wandered around Garden for a little bit before finally deciding to visit the training center. After fighting and defeating a few Grats and an unusually extremely tough T-Rexaur, Quistis decided to go read in the secret area.  
  
This decision was made because she knew no one would be there before curfew, considering you are allowed practically anywhere before curfew and that the Secret Area was for students who would want to stay up after curfew. This was where she was now.  
  
Quistis sighed as she turned the page of the book.  
  
'What is UP with these romance novels' she thought, exasperated.  
  
She closed the book up without marking what page she was on, long since she had grown bored with the novel. As the silence inside the Secret Area made her uneasy, her thoughts began to drift to Seifer.  
  
She hadn't seen him in many months and then suddenly, he just POPS out of nowhere and returns to Balamb Garden. She couldn't believe that Cid had actually let him back in, after all the things he did.  
  
'But,' she reasoned with herself, 'he WAS under mind control, like Matron was.'  
  
Quistis wasn't aware of the pair of eyes that were observing her a distance away, too deep into her thoughts.  
  
'If Matron was let back in, why shouldn't Seifer ALSO be let back in and not banned?' She was speaking to herself inside her own head by this time. 'I mean, she committed more crimes then he did, so he shouldn't be blamed for all of this, should he?'  
  
'Okay, what am I thinking?!? This is SEIFER for Hyne's sake! You know, the one who tried to aggravate you every single moment of your entire teaching career? The one you despise?' She shook her head to clear off her mind, but her thoughts had something else in mind rather than clearing off.  
  
An image of the cocky, blonde Sorceress' Knight came pushing to the front of her thoughts. She observed the picture inside of her mind and had to confess that Seifer wasn't really that bad looking.  
  
Too caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice the figure that had approached her until it sat down hard onto the empty space beside her on the bench. Quistis was startled and had leapt up a foot in the air, and then fell off the bench. She looked up into the green eyes of none other than Seifer Almasy.  
  
Her eyes stayed in contact with his, drawn in by the depth of his two green orbs that were staring back at her. She just had to admit to herself that they were the most intriguing thing she had ever seen. She kept on staring until she was woken out of her reverie with a hand stuck directly in her face, waving annoyingly.  
  
"Quistis? Hey, Instructor Trepe! Are you there?" Seifer looked almost concerned. Almost.  
  
Quistis swatted his hand away from her face. She shook her head once more and looked at him after her thoughts had long gone disappeared. His face held a combination of emotions, which included curiosity, puzzlement, and, just when she was thinking he was actually going to care about her, amusement.  
  
"What do you want Seifer? And when did you get here?" She looked at him with discomfort.  
  
Seifer snorted. "Are you kidding me?" He asked in disbelief. "How could YOU have missed my ENTRANCE?" He swept his arms out in a display of dramatics. He then grinned. "Thinking about me too much again Instructor?"  
  
Quistis stopped breathing. 'How did he know?' she thought desperately. When she found out that he was just kidding a moment later, she let out a relieved sigh and looked at him wryly before beginning to reply.  
  
"Oh please Seifer, why would you think that I would think about YOU?"  
  
"Oh I don't know, maybe because I'm still your favorite student?" he teased. "Or maybe because you're madly in love with me and just don't have the guts to tell me?"  
  
Quistis laughed dryly. "Only in your wildest dreams, Almasy."  
  
"You don't WANT to know what my wildest dreams are about when it involves YOU, Trepe." He replied, sounding completely serious.  
  
Quistis blushed and tried to shake off the feeling quickly, but Seifer saw her before her face had returned to its normal color. He grinned.  
  
"So, you DO want to know, eh Trepe?" he mocked playfully. "Didn't know you were like that."  
  
The blush had long disappeared from her face and she had her cerulean blue eyes narrowed at him.  
  
"Whatever, Seifer." She retorted. "I'm leaving." She stood up and proceeded to exit the Secret Area. Before she reached the outside, however, Seifer called out to her.  
  
"Wait! Quistis!"  
  
She turned and looked at him curiously. He shot her a cocky grin.  
  
"Remember our little challenge for each other?" he asked. "This counts as the first time I've aggravated you. And so far, I'm winning! You're losing your touch." He pointed out to her.  
  
Quistis huffed indignantly. "Hardly, Almasy." With that, she continued the rest of her way out by stomping out while ignoring the laughter of Seifer drifting into her ears. 


	4. Training

Thanks for all of your AMAZING reviews! I enjoyed reading all of them! Yes, I know that the past two days, my chapters had gotten all mixed up. Sorry about that! I'll try not to let it happen again!  
  
Disclaimer - Like it has been since the beginning of time, I DID NOT, DO NOT, and WILL NOT EVER OWN FINAL FANTASY 8 AND ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. Okay! Now that that's out of the way, ENJOY!  
  
  
  
Quistis huffed indignantly. "Hardly, Almasy." With that, she continued the rest of her way out by stomping out while ignoring the laughter of Seifer drifting into her ears.  
  
It was the day Seifer's lessons were to begin. Quistis had paged him to meet her at the front gates of Balamb Garden at eleven am. It was now ten minutes past eleven and he STILL had YET to get there.  
  
She sighed as she looked at her watch for what probably was the 9th time in the 10 minutes he was late. As she finally gave up after 15 minutes and turned to go back in, she heard footsteps pounding on the ground. She looked up and saw Seifer running down the paved road towards her. She shook her head.  
  
'He'll never change.' Quistis thought as he reached her. Seifer stopped in front of her and bent over as he tried to catch his breath. She smiled wryly.  
  
"Well, it's about time you got here. In the time you were late, I've made a complete schedule for all of your lessons for the next month." She informed him as his face took on an expression of disbelief.  
  
"To start studying for your written exam, I've assigned you 3 books to read and to write an essay for each of the books. They will be due by the end of the week, on Friday." She smiled to herself as his eyes grew larger than they previously were.  
  
"Are you kidding me?!?" Seifer responded incredulously. "How am I suppose to get all of THAT done by Friday?"  
  
"If you would maybe just STUDY a while, you'll find that completing the assignment will be a breeze." She retorted.  
  
"Like that's ever going to happen." He mumbled as she continued to read off of the schedule.  
  
"The three books you will be reading include 'Transitioning to a Guardian Force: The Dos and Don'ts', 'The History of Garden: Volume One', and 'Drawing and Casting Magic'." She listed. Seifer had long ago stopped retorting and just stared at her now.  
  
"You're trying to kill me from stress aren't you, Instructor?" He concluded after a moment of silence between them.  
  
"Believe me, Almasy. It'll only get harder." She pointed out for her enjoyment at seeing him exasperated from the mention of the workload.  
  
All Seifer did was close his eyes and groan. 'Well,' he thought dryly, 'at least I'll be busy and not have to pay attention to all the stares directed at me.'  
  
Since he had come back to Balamb Garden, the students there had avoided him. Well, at least the ones who feared him did. The others just stared at him in either disgust or fascination. Disgust at what he did when he was still the sorceress' lapdog and in fascination that Cid actually let him back in.  
  
"Hey, Almasy! Are you listening to me?" Quistis snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of his thoughts.  
  
He blinked and looked at her. "What?"  
  
She sighed again and rolled her eyes. "What I had said is that now that we've gotten the studying part of your lesson out of the way, it's time to train for the field exam."  
  
He smirked. "Instructor, you know I was born to train!"  
  
She stared at him with a new twinkle in her eye. "Good, then you won't mind running to Balamb and back here again 10 times. After, you will do 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and 100 jumping jacks.  
  
Only AFTER all of that will I allow you to train in combat. When I do, you will train out here in the open instead of inside the Training Center because out here, there are stronger monsters. You got me?"  
  
He mutely nodded. There was another moment of silence that passed between them before Quistis broke it again.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!" She yelled. Seifer took off at a sprint along the paved road leading to Balamb City.  
  
"And you BETTER not take any short cuts!" Quistis yelled after his running form. "Otherwise, I'll increase the laps you run!" Seifer ran as fast he could to and from Balamb Garden to Balamb. All the while he was completing his exercises; only ONE thought crossed his mind.  
  
'Dang! She IS trying to kill me." 


End file.
